In one well known type of accelerometer design, a proof mass is connected to a support by one or more flexures that permit the proof mass to rotate in response to an acceleration along a predetermined sensitive axis. In a conventional accelerometer, flexures may be fabricated by mechanically thinning a portion of a blank from which the proof mass is cut. However, in a micromechanical accelerometer of the type that is formed from a single crystal of silicon, the flexures must generally be created by etching techniques. Because of the relative inflexibility of etching processes, as compared to mechanical formation, the options for creating flexures in a silicon micromechanical device are somewhat limited. One known technique is to create an epitaxial layer on one surface of a silicon wafer, and then etch an opening in the opposite wafer surface, using the epitaxial layer as an etch stop. Although this a highly reproducible technique, it suffers from the fact that the effective hinge axis of the flexure is located in the plane of one surface of the wafer, rather than at a point midway between the wafer surfaces. As a result, the effective sensitive axis of the accelerometer is not parallel to the wafer surfaces, and alignment of the instrument with an external housing is thereby made more difficult.